Limitless Word
I intreated thy favour with my whole heart: be merciful unto me according to thy word.
Psalms 119:58 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB I sought your favor with my whole heart. Be merciful to me according to your word.
  • BSB I have sought Your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to Your promise.
  • NKJV I entreated Your favor with my whole heart; Be merciful to me according to Your word.
  • NASB I sought Your favor with all my heart; Be gracious to me according to Your word.
  • NLT With all my heart I want your blessings. Be merciful as you promised.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The psalmist seeks God's favor wholeheartedly and asks for mercy according to His promise. It matters because God's grace is sought earnestly and received on the basis of His word.

Overview

With his whole heart, the psalmist entreats God's favor and pleads for mercy grounded in God's promise. He seeks grace sincerely, not half-heartedly. This wholehearted appeal for mercy is fully answered in the gospel, where God's favor rests on sinners through the promise fulfilled in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 17

  • Ps 119:41Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD, even thy salvation, according to thy word.
  • Heb 10:22Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
  • Ps 119:10With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.
  • Ps 119:170Let my supplication come before thee: deliver me according to thy word.
  • 1 Kgs 13:6And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.
  • Ps 27:8When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.
  • Ps 4:6There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
  • Matt 24:35Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
  • Ps 119:76Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant.
  • Job 11:19Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee.
  • Ps 51:1–3Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
  • Ps 138:2I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
  • Ps 56:4In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.
  • Ps 119:65Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto thy word.
  • Ps 86:1–3Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy.
  • Hos 7:14And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against me.
  • Ps 56:10In God will I praise his word: in the LORD will I praise his word.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 119:58YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 119:58 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.